After alighting from the carriage, Colin followed the main thoroughfare of the School and made his way forward until he reached the outer perimeter of a round, spired, gray-white ancient castle at its very center.
Here was one of the most closely guarded places in the entire School—
the Tin Saint Library!
After his conversation with Lillian, it was already nearly afternoon.
Without Lillian's guidance, he couldn't go to inquire about information relevant to Atbolde Talent Seeds.
Hence, he planned to head to the School's ancient castle library on his own to search in advance and would go to Atbolde for a detailed inquiry early the next morning.
Of course, with his current status, he didn't hold out hope that he would find particularly useful information... but it was always beneficial to learn more, if only to increase his knowledge.
Continuing forward, Colin, well-acquainted with the route, passed through several checks and finally entered the library's first-floor area... the only area he could access.
Above, on the high pale yellow ceiling, myriad Bright Crystals the size of ping-pong balls cast a soft white light.
Under the glow of the white light stood rows of neatly arranged thick, maroon bookshelves that stretched to the end of the line of sight, each covered with semi-transparent protective Witch Arrays emitting a faint white gleam.
Among the bookshelves, numerous Apprentices moved slowly, perusing the books with great care…
'The first floor of this library castle is much larger than it appears from the outside,' Colin mused to himself. 'Perhaps there is some transformation related to space involved.'
Worth noting is that most of the books on the brown shelves were kept in the form of crystal copies, with only a few original magic books still placed on the shelves.
Stepping up to several square columns near the front desk, Colin stretched out his arm and reached for the transparent Crystal Ball, the size of a baby's head, affixed atop the column.
Inside the Crystal Ball was stored all the information of every book on the first floor of the ancient castle library, including whether they had been borrowed and where they were located, all of which could be queried.
Talent Seeds... Talent quality... Cultivating Talent Seeds... Mastery of witchcraft knowledge...
Colin filtered through the keywords one by one.
Before long, he took a wooden tray designed to hold crystals and books from the front desk and walked toward the bookshelves.
Following the information he had just queried, he spent about fifteen minutes wandering among the various bookshelves, retrieving a dozen crystals and four or five thick physical magic books.
These were all the books that could potentially contain information about the influence of witchcraft on the cultivation of Talent Seeds, available on the whole first floor of the castle library.
Holding the tray filled with books, Colin found a corner to sit down and began to read.
Like the libraries on Earth, the Tin Saint School's castle library was also very quiet; there wasn't any sound of talking, nor could one hear the clicking of Wizard's footsteps...
Such quietness was mainly due to the constant sound-dampening Witch Array throughout the entire castle library.
Unlike a Silent Enchantment, or a soundproofing Witch Array.
The sound-dampening Witch Array did not completely eliminate sound but suppressed the distance across which it could travel.
Thanks to learning Silent... Colin had some understanding of the underlying principle.
Simply put, it increased the rate of decay of sound wave energy, causing it to dissipate more quickly... the faintest sounds might not be heard even a meter away.
Seated, he quickly flipped through the books he had collected.
With his current reading speed as an Advanced Wizard Apprentice, he soon browsed through the first book.
The first book had a thick brown leather cover and was several inches thick, but the content about Talent Seeds was only briefly mentioned on a few pages in the middle, and it was vague at that...
With a sigh, Colin started reading the next book.
The rustling of pages being turned continued without pause...
After a long time, the noise turned into the clacking of crystals.
And so, time passed without his knowing how long it had been.
Again, Colin reached toward the wooden tray, only to suddenly realize there were no more unread book crystals inside.
He let out a long sigh and pressed a hand against his temple.
Although there wasn't much useful content in these books, a detailed reading had nonetheless broadened his perspective.
Particularly regarding the precautions for consuming Magic Potions when cultivating Talent Seeds and the choice of some small details, he found it immensely beneficial.
This knowledge wasn't something that could be bought in the outside world.
When he had bought knowledge about Advancing to an Official Wizard back on Bananka Island, looking back on it now, the content was vague,
As if describing a person by only saying they had facial features, a head, two arms, and two legs... not incorrect, but indeed not very useful.
Standing up, Colin returned the borrowed physical books and the book crystals and left the castle library.
Stepping outside, night had fallen, the sky was pitch black with only a bright moon hanging high above.
'Unfortunately, I still couldn't find much information about whether the type and amount of knowledge mastered could also impact the quality of the Talent Seeds,' he sighed softly in his heart.
*
*
*
The next day.
Atbolde's residence.
The study on the second floor of the villa.
"Does the type or amount of knowledge mastered impact the quality of the cultivated Talent Seeds, or affect the type and quality of the Talent later on?" Atbolde, seated in an armchair by the familiar force field window, repeated Colin's question.
"Yes," Colin nodded, adding with some puzzlement,